I built my first one using about a dozen different ideas from many similar videos. I made additional supports from door frame to the sides at the two foot level and ran 1/2 inch hardware cloth 2 foot wide around the bottom using Hogs Rings for top to the cattle panels, then stapled them to the wood near the ground level. This provides additional protection from raccoons so they can't reach in when the birds are real little. Our first batch were about a month old and with regular chicken wire, they were able to grab a few by the legs and pull them through the fence. This addition should hopefully guard against that. The extra supports also really stiffened up the whole coop so it is very rigid now!!!
Thank you and that's an excellent point. We ended up having to do something similar for the broiler tractor in our pasture because owls came after them one year.
I built 1 with 8' long panels it was only waste high. Recently upgraded building basically this exact design and my birds love it so much. It stays really clean. I will build another one next year to start the meat birds.
Very happy to find your channel. I can relate about Harvey, we survived, our ranch, not so much, we lost all our chickens, most went to neighbors and we had them keep them since all our coops were destroyed. This is a neat idea. I might build a little garden greenhouse with this idea. Also, we are rebuilding and gonna get some more chickens soon. Best wishes to y’all success and I’m gonna keep watching. thanks again 🙏🏽😎
Best of luck to you on rebuilding. Sorry to hear about your ranch and your animals. Hurricanes are no joke that's for sure! Appreciate the support as well.
Looks good, I think I might do this also. Looks like it is 8' L and 8' w ... Looks very cost effective, which I need for starting out. Why did you put the nesting box's so high......it looks like they are at the same height as the roosting bar ....... All the other videos said to have nesting box's low to the ground to make it easier to get in......and the roosting polls / bars need to be the highest thing in the pin.
Thanks for watching! The nesting boxes were put higher for easy of collection and cleaning. You bring up an excellent point about the height. We ended up adding another roost higher up for the birds because they were starting to roost in the boxes. It was a rookie mistake! Lol
Enjoyed the video ! Great job. Wanted to ask the dimensions H W and Length finished. How wide did you cut the 2x 4.? and how long were the 2x 4 you used Thanks !!
Thanks! we kept the stock measurements. 2 x 8' and 2 x 10' 2x4s. No cutting on those. Here's a short blog that might help as well! sixthdayranch.com/2020/06/05/easy-meat-chicken-tractor/
So far both are holding up great! We have even had a few high wind storms that haven't affected the tarp any! We have had to do some routine maintenance of stapling the wire back down but we haven't had to replace any! Hope this helps!
How easy is it to move? We have three other mobile coops. One is the John suscovich style, one is a metal one we bought online and added PVC to the bottom to make it slide easier and then we have a mobile tractor low to ground for our meat birds. I am researching A frames and a hoop style like this one. Just worried the cattle panels make it heavy.
It's definitely not light but can be moved by one person in smooth ground. My wife has done this many times. We usually use a chain and our utv to move it though. We are planning to put a winch on the utv to make this an even eaiser task. I've seen some folks out wheels on these that is supposed to make it very easy to move by hand as well.
No we've been fortunate! One tractor we did end up wrapping the bottom 2 feet with hardware cloth though due to owls trying to reach in and eat the birds.
I built my first one using about a dozen different ideas from many similar videos. I made additional supports from door frame to the sides at the two foot level and ran 1/2 inch hardware cloth 2 foot wide around the bottom using Hogs Rings for top to the cattle panels, then stapled them to the wood near the ground level. This provides additional protection from raccoons so they can't reach in when the birds are real little. Our first batch were about a month old and with regular chicken wire, they were able to grab a few by the legs and pull them through the fence. This addition should hopefully guard against that. The extra supports also really stiffened up the whole coop so it is very rigid now!!!
Thank you and that's an excellent point. We ended up having to do something similar for the broiler tractor in our pasture because owls came after them one year.
I built 1 with 8' long panels it was only waste high. Recently upgraded building basically this exact design and my birds love it so much. It stays really clean. I will build another one next year to start the meat birds.
Awesome! It's a really great setup and we've really got a ton of use out of them!
First time watching. Like to check on tractor. Kansas
thanks! We still love it and it's holding up great!
Very good
Thanks!
Very happy to find your channel. I can relate about Harvey, we survived, our ranch, not so much, we lost all our chickens, most went to neighbors and we had them keep them since all our coops were destroyed. This is a neat idea. I might build a little garden greenhouse with this idea. Also, we are rebuilding and gonna get some more chickens soon. Best wishes to y’all success and I’m gonna keep watching. thanks again 🙏🏽😎
Best of luck to you on rebuilding. Sorry to hear about your ranch and your animals. Hurricanes are no joke that's for sure! Appreciate the support as well.
Great job!
Thanks for watching!
What beautiful chickens! Great job on the chicken tractor! X O
Thank you! And thanks for watching!
lookin' good!
Thanks!
Looks good, I think I might do this also. Looks like it is 8' L and 8' w ... Looks very cost effective, which I need for starting out. Why did you put the nesting box's so high......it looks like they are at the same height as the roosting bar ....... All the other videos said to have nesting box's low to the ground to make it easier to get in......and the roosting polls / bars need to be the highest thing in the pin.
Thanks for watching! The nesting boxes were put higher for easy of collection and cleaning. You bring up an excellent point about the height. We ended up adding another roost higher up for the birds because they were starting to roost in the boxes. It was a rookie mistake! Lol
Enjoyed the video ! Great job.
Wanted to ask the dimensions H W and Length finished.
How wide did you cut the 2x 4.?
and how long were the 2x 4 you used
Thanks !!
Thanks! we kept the stock measurements. 2 x 8' and 2 x 10' 2x4s. No cutting on those. Here's a short blog that might help as well! sixthdayranch.com/2020/06/05/easy-meat-chicken-tractor/
How are you finding the chicken wire holding up so far? How about the heavy duty tarp?
So far both are holding up great! We have even had a few high wind storms that haven't affected the tarp any! We have had to do some routine maintenance of stapling the wire back down but we haven't had to replace any! Hope this helps!
How easy is it to move? We have three other mobile coops. One is the John suscovich style, one is a metal one we bought online and added PVC to the bottom to make it slide easier and then we have a mobile tractor low to ground for our meat birds. I am researching A frames and a hoop style like this one. Just worried the cattle panels make it heavy.
It's definitely not light but can be moved by one person in smooth ground. My wife has done this many times. We usually use a chain and our utv to move it though. We are planning to put a winch on the utv to make this an even eaiser task. I've seen some folks out wheels on these that is supposed to make it very easy to move by hand as well.
@@SixthDayRanch thanks. I think we’ll try it with PVC cut in half on bottom. It creates like a sled.
Great idea!
Did you use 1/4 in plywood for the back or 1/2 in?
1/2
How many hen in this coop? Thank you.
Can hold 16 and a rooster comfortably.
Got it. I listened further.
Thanks for watching! Always happy to help.
You don't have weasels where you are?
We do not thankfully!
@@SixthDayRanch Yes, that's great.
how many panels did you use and also how much chicken wire do I need?
We used 2 16' panels, and approx 4 rolls of 48" chicken wire. Hope this helps!
Ever have predators dig their way in?
No we've been fortunate! One tractor we did end up wrapping the bottom 2 feet with hardware cloth though due to owls trying to reach in and eat the birds.
How much the total cost to build one of those?
I'd say under 300 if all new supplies. I built it with many supplies I already had on hand so I don't have exact numbers.
What size cattle panels are those? 16 ft x 4 ft??
16' x 50" (Technically 2 inches taller than 4'). Thanks for reaching out!
❤️🙏🏻👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
👌👌👌👌🙋♂️🇱🇰
Thanks for watching!
How are my cousins doing
Doing great! Thanks for watching!
You don't have weasels where you are?
I've heard those are hard to deal with!
@@SixthDayRanch I have to use 1/2 in hardware cloth, completely enclosed, floor of run and roof, everywhere.
That's got to make it almost impossible to do a mobile coop setup. I feel for you guys!